chuckbradley

STI's are all stainless. SV's are all black/blued. My info line has been working continuously. Email has been working also. 800 number was down for 2 days. There is a thread in the "what I hate" forum

At least some have been made aware.

Great post and some good points to keep in mind for set-ups. When I started shooting in '83, the club had a rule against shooting steel with jacketed bullets because of this concern. I doubt there's any likelihood of that rule coming back, but it made sense. Most of the splatter wounds I've seen/experienced have come when shooters were using jacketed hollow points. He was shooting JHP's but the metal was lead. I personally dont think the type of bullet has much to do with it. THey all will splatter. The direction of splatter is the key. I feel the guys saying its the bad JHP is the same types that are saying we shouldnt shoot fast since its unsafe and out of control.

I talked to one steel manufacturer today who was aware of this problem and has changed their design to alleviate it. When they develop new targets they do extensive testing to make sure the design does not send splatter back. I also talked to a customer who had addressed this issue with another steel manufacturer who was in denial and still makes steel plates with the flat edge that is the root of the problem. This is the reason USPSA needs to address steel design for their matches. They know its a problem so if we did have an serious accident what kind of liability would there be? Until then it will be up to us to be sure the steel we shoot is safe.

The finger is healed and he has most the feeling back now. The hand surgeon who was at the match told me what to look for and what could be fixed. He also said a nerve can be partially damaged or shocked. If this is the case the feeling would return over time. Think it will be fine but we need to address this problem.

At about 7:30 tonight I checked and still not working. Just tried it and it is back on. Cant stop shooters though. The ones that really wanted to order stuff used the info line or the web page.

I always did a real simple calculation which does change if you are not at or near the high hit factor yourself. But if a stage has a hit factor of 5 then a second is worth 5 points. If it has a factor of 15 then a second is worth 15 points. We used to try and change shooting style toward the theory speed is more important on high hit factor stages and accuracy was more important on low HF stages. Bottom line is shoot all a's as fast as you can. Although you can still make a case that if you gave up so many A's and can do it so much faster on a high hit factor stage you may come out better. For stages 5 and under the All A's as fast as you can really applies.

Nope but be sure to ask if those rates are set in stone and any extra fees they may charge for different types of cards. Corporate rewards cards usually have an extra add on fee up to 1.6 %.

Ok my 800 number bill has been billed to a credit card for years. Yesterday it quit working. No call from the BIG company just cut me off. I even forgot who had the service. Once I found them I called and they said the expiration date on my card was expired and I owed 4 months bill. I asked them why they couldnt have simply called the 800 number to notify us there was a problem. They said sorry. We will have it turned on in 24-48 hours. I asked if they could expedite it as it was a business line. She repeated herself. Its still not on as I write this. Makes you want to ring somebodies neck. Welcome to the electronic age with no mailed bills.

One thing I left out. My practice was to shoot a local match every weekend, sometimes 2 a weekend. I hated dry or live practice. When i did do it it was just to work on a problem area. You also have to be careful to keep it fun or it becomes a job. Too much practice and it becomes no fun. For me any practice is not fun.

Join USPSA if you havent already. Shoot 4 classifiers and you will get a basic idea. Then go shoot a major match and see where you fall. Its not about how good are you but how good can you get.

The answer is different for each person and each GM. Frank Garcia once told me that he had to practice to stay on his game since he did not have natural ability. I believe its all relative. One shooter who may not have as much natural ability may be able to practice and achieve the same level as a shooter of more natural ability who didnt practice. With all else equal I think every shooter will be better with some practice. I also believe there is a diminishing return the more you practice. Being that we all have different levels of ability you cant say it takes a specific amount of practice to make GM or a GM has to practice a set amount. Also there is alot more to this game than just fundamental skills or even athletic ability, a big component is the mental game. To be able to perform at GM levels at matches one must be able to pull all the facets of the sport together. I know some shooters who are lightning fast with exceptional motor skills. But they havent learned to apply it to the sport and balance the different variables which is necessary to perform at the GM level in actual competition. I also know one shooter who is not a speed demon. He is smooth and consistent. What he lacks in speed he makes up in accuracy. I shot with him one year in Fredericksburg at the Limited Nationals. He was always a second or two behind the rest of us. He finished 8th that year I think. That was back before the nationals was watered down. We had 400 shooters all shooting limited. I am speaking of Doug Koenig. Another part of the question could be what does it take to get a GM card or what does it take to be able to perform at GM levels at major matches. Lots of practice will help you get a GM card but you could be in for a rude awakening at a real match.

If you want to send the gun back to STI thats fine. They will take care of it. But in my opinion based on what you wrote its so simple a fix that I wouldnt waste the time shipping it back. I am also of the opinion if you want to be proficient at this sport you need to learn how your gun operates and how to diagnose and fix things as you go. Any gun will not be perfect from day one and forever. They constantly need maintenance & repair of some sort. Just like any machine. This problem could be as simple as a burr formed on the extractor hook and needs to be polished or the edge broke as I described earlier. Trying to fix this will not void the warranty and STI will probably encourage this in this one incident against paying next day air shipping. The guy to talk to is Chris or Dave Cupp. Now several of the staff left for the IWA(?) show in Germany today so some of them will not be back until next week.

Yep, I was able to get Diesel cheap today. Only 3.52 a Gallon. Wait am I in the right forum? Shouldn't it be a hate rant? And yea I was thrilled to get it at 3.52 after seeing prices up to 3.99. I cant believe they have acclimated me to accepting this price level and loving it.

I dont think they are interested in selling to Distributors. I believe they want the direct retail sale. I used to sell them until we were left out in the cold for a year without any deliveries. I ended up working with KKM to get barrels to dimensions that Dan liked. KKM barrels are performing great. There is a new partner in Schueman now so if they have the desire for distributors then I will consider it. I realize there are a good number of shooters who like Shueman barrels.

Since SV is out....how about Champion Sights as a Bomar replacement? They don't take up much room though! I have called Champion. They didnt seem very interested. I imagine they are being swamped with Bomar stopping production. I do have the New STI rear sight. I know they have had allot of bad history but the sti sight is new. I looked at one the other day and its quite nice. I have an inkling it is a champion. We also have the new Ed Brown rear. It is a really nice looking sight. Maybe even better than the bomar. We also have the Wilson but its a little expensive.

Its the bottom edge that bites into the case rim when the round tries to pivot as the bullet moves up the ramp. It will be the edge that is at the bottom of the surface which is parallel to the breech face. Or bottom of the hook of the extractor. Any body got a picture? Any way take a file and break that edge to allow the pivot. Have no fear. If you screw it up I can sell you an Aftec. Of course sometimes they need this done also but not often. The variance in the dimension on the slide between the breechface and the back where the firing pin stop goes can create this problem, or at least aggravate it.

I am doing my best to fill up a 15,000 sq ft building. We have a long way to go. Got any new ideas? There are 3-4 new lines we are working on right now.

STI conversion Kits on web page for sale. These are preorder as I see a great big demand for these by the response so far. So I have product on order and am taking orders that will be filled by date the order was placed. http://shootersconnection.com/store/produc...roducts_id=1062

Sounds like the bottom edge of the extractor hook needs to be broke to allow the round to pivot while going up the ramp.

I think this fits in the thread. Just got back visiting Purdue with Austin. He really liked it so its a good possibility he will go there. How is the law concerning 18-21 yr olds. Any clubs close to Lafayette as they wont allow him to have a car the first year.

Ryan should heal fine. We actually had a hand surgeon shooting that day but , I dont know why-probably not realizing how bad it was or that the numbing wasnt realized until the way home, we didnt ask him. I did however talk to him at the club meeting last night and he wants to look at his hand. We just have to consider all this when we set up stages and when buying or using steel. WE also need to consider placement of stages and targets. I was once Ro'ing an Area 5 match and my bay was right next to another longer bay where the shooters started far behind us. Didnt think anything of it since we had a good size berm between us. That was until I got thumped by a full , jagged 38 super bullet that bounced off the floor of the bay. Dont know if it just took that flight path because it was deformed or if it ricocheted of the awning support first. It felt like a sledge hammer hitting me on the chest. It healed up ok but again what if it had hit in a more vital area. They put a couple plastic barrels filled with sand behind the target and that reduced the probability of it happening again.

This past weekend my son shot a 8" plate at 12 yards. He felt a sting in his hand. After holstering we started looking at it and blood started running. Having had 2 pieces of jacket surgically removed from my knees I told him to feel around to make sure there wasnt any metal still inside. There were 3 slices on 2 fingers. Sure enough he found a piece that took tweezers several attempts to remove. It seemed as if it would never end as it was coming out. Actually it was only about 1/2 inch long and 1/4 inch wide. It was thin like a razor blade. It entered one finger and then exited and then entered the finger it was removed from. I got to thinking what if it had hit a vital area like in the neck and cut the jugular. I am sure there are other areas this could have caused serious or fatal injury. It did cut a nerve as he has no feeling in that side of his finger. Here he is on You Tube shooting last year. I looked at the steel plate and it had a flange that was used to stand the plate up. It was welded on. While Ro'ing I was peppered several times from the same plate. The weld created a curve which I believe acted like a chute to send splatter back at the crowd. I really believe we (USPSA) need to study steel construction and provide some guidelines as to its construction. There shouldn't be any edges that would act as a guide sending splatter back at the shooter and crowd. The front surface needs to be completely flat so the splatter will travel the same plane as the face of the steel. Safety is something we talk so much about and yet sometimes things like this are not considered. We, shooters, are going to be under more and more scrutiny as time goes on. Steel splatter needs to be seriously considered when setting up a stage or designing and constructing steel targets. One of the pieces I had removed from a knee was due to the stage being set up where a popper was perpendicular to where the squad would stand. We were looking right at the side of the popper. The other was a popper that somebody had shot with a rifle and there was a big crater in it. Just something for us to consider as we practice our sport so we can continue to practice it.

Unfortunately when the Federal agency is wrong the victim is still put out of business with no recourse. That needs to change. I also would like the process changed where in a situation like this, the suspect is allowed to appear before the Judge also in a hearing before their business is trashed. The agency could stand guard over the premise while its going on so nothing can be removed during the hearing. There is so much at risk for the individuals involved. Given past history where we know one individual in the right position can create a problem to promote an agenda I think it isnt too much to ask.

Thanks Chris. Might talk with Mike about this. He is president of the Pistol Division.